Kisetsu is the Japanese word for the four seasons. Appreciation of each season is an integral part of Japanese culture, with different festivals being celebrated nationwide every spring, summer, autumn and winter. 

 

Seasonal motifs feature in every aspect of daily life and their symbolism is represented in food, art, music, literature, pottery, kimono patterns and the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Observing and acknowledging every season has always been a way to practise mindfulness and to enjoy the present moment.

 

Acceptance of the impermanence of life and the temporary nature of all things is an important teaching in Buddhism, and it is echoed in the Japanese aesthetic philosophy of wabi sabi. The transient nature of life heightens its beauty, along with the bittersweet feeling of its inevitable passing. This is known as mono no aware, an expression from Heian Period literature to describe the duality of feeling admiration for seeing cherry blossoms in bloom, and the wistful sadness of knowing that their flowers are so fleeting.

 

The cycles we go through and grow from in each personal season means that we shed different skins in each phase as we are constantly learning, changing and evolving. These recent works are a collection of pieces from each turn of the season, from each of my different seasons. Some are fragments of self, facets of different selves or inspired by Japanese goddesses, myth and folktales. 

 

​

Kisetsu | 季節 | Seasons 

18 November - 13 December 2025

 

Refinery Artspace 

Whakatū Nelson

 

Artist Talk

11am Saturday 13 December 

​

Opening night photos courtesy of Refinery Artspace